Fan Recaps and Comments:

Review by John David Crafton:
I must say, I totally enjoyed myself. Lots of jumping and stuffs, it was
aWeStRaNoMoNoUs!

The band contained the Johns (of course), three Dans, and no Jim, to my
disapointment. Oh well, better luck next time, don't you think?

Opening act: Michael Shelley. I liked the guy, I don't see why some people
don't. He's a good performer, and a great musician.

They started with the Dans playing the STD theme. After Jack and the Professor
got on stage, they played, to my surprise, Subliminal. I had told my dad
earlier that they weren't going to play it, but they proved me wrong, placing
it second. Well, you can't always be right, right?

They played Particle Man next, Linnell sang Kumbaya (sp?) towards the end. Next
was New York City, followed by Whistling in the Dark, in which Flansburgh
played a marching bass drum, much to the crowd's delight.

Next came First Kiss, They Got Lost, Your Racist Friend, and Dr. Worm, the one
and only time they played it. Mr. Linnell proceeded to tease the crowd, as we
were singing along, he decided to, um, lengthen his rests, and change a few
rhythms, just to keep us on our toes.

She's Actual Size was next. Flans sang the end in falsetto, a feat I could not
reproduce. I tried to do it along with him to no avail.

In Battle for the Planet of the Apes, the people won, and I couldn't sing along
to the next song because of it (me screaming).

Next was Twisting, followed by the Famous Polka. In the Polka, there was a Drum
solo, and Flans let the crowd touch his guitar. I was six inches away from it,
I couldn't quite reach it. "So close, yet so far away."

Then they played Mammal, and a new song called Working Undercover for the Man.
They moved She's an Angel up to next, b/c a loud female was screaming for it.
Flansy played a black guitar. Well, I guess it goes to show that if you're loud
enough and you ask early enough, you can get anything.

Afterwards, they played S-E-X-X-Y, and then Shoehorn With Teeth. The crowd went
wild every time Dan hit the glockenspiel, a total of three times.

Next was Spy. In the improv session, they played Mr. Tambourine Man and Here I
Go Again.

Then I am not Your Broom, I Palindrome I, Why Does the Sun Shine?, Older, and
The Guitar. I jumped higher during the Guitar than any other song.

No One Knows my Plan came next, and a conga line formed without the help of
Flansburgh. I would have joined, but I would have lost my spot close to the
front in the process.

Next they played James K. Polk, then Istanbul (not Constantinople) with an
excellent guitar introduction done by mister Dan Miller. Towards what seemed
like the end of the song, They seemed like they got a second wind, and made it
much longer than expected. Then, they turned off the lights and left the
stage...

The crowd chanted We Want John for a solid five minutes, and then They came out
with the puppets. Yes, they were singing Exquisite Dead Guy. I did notice,
however, that the Johns were not singing, which leads me to believe that they
recorded it earlier to play it then. I can't be sure whether or not the band
was playing, though. My dad said he thought this was the low point of the
concert, but what does he know?

Birdhouse in your Soul was next, much to the crowd's delight.

They ended with Dig my Grave, which I proceeded to head bang my way through,
using my hair as a weapon against the back of the guy in front of me.

I can remember one time during the show when they played the end of This Ape's
for you, but I can't remember exactly when that was.

A few times during the concert, I felt like Linnell was staring at me, but I'm
probably just paranoid. I do know that he was looking in my general direction,
though, so I wasn't totally off base.

For the majority of the concert, Flans played either a red or yellow guitar,
except for She's an Angel, on which he played a black one.

I met Carey Carter, who we from cowtown all know is a cool guy, about 45
minutes before the concert, standing in line, wearing his Superman t-shirt and
blue jeans. I was wearing a button up black shirt and black jeans.

After the concert, I bought myself a grey t-shirt with green bugs and They
Might Be Giants in red, which I am wearing right now. The concert was about 4
hours, and They played about 2.

I got home at around 3 this morning, and went to sleep at 3:30. I woke up an
hour and a half later, at 5, for morning marching band practice. I've been
extremely energetic all day. I guess I'm still on a high from the concert, or
something.

So, that was my first live TMBG experience.

Note to reader: this review was written the day after the concert, and sent to
my friends in an e-mail. My only notes were a little piece of paper on which I
had written a set list.

Review by Rhonda:
picture me huddled under a florescent light next to a six foot speaker,
writing down every song they played with a red pen..(the same color as
the light, so it was hard to see what i was writing) nonetheless... i
was able to decode it all ,and now i hope that all my hard work will be
a justice done to all those tmbg fans who ,.. well maybe wanted to know
what they played at numbers/..
i was unable to grab the actual set list, because somebody had already
run off with it... but i ass ure you mine is just a s accurate, and i
even included a few quotes and other odd things.
enjoy!
1. subliminal
2. particle man...... "kumbaya"... eerie particle man
3. New York City--J.L> relates the story of meeting a make-up artist
while on tour.. who asked him what he thought about the Star Report in
the newspaper...Linnell thought he was talking about Ken Star's report on
the Clinton scandal..and started to say that he thought the whole thing
was a big mess, and pretty ugly.. that he couldnt believe they printed
it in the newspaper.. you know cause it's pretty long...and well the
make-up guy said: "oh...but i thought you were into astrology?..."
nobody got the joke for at least 8 seconds. : )
4. Whistling in the dark -- J.F. actually played the big strap on bass
drum, inching his way as close to the audience as possible, and nearly
tripping over a few amps.
5.Severe Tire Damage Theme--J.L talked to the audience about watching
the Different Strokes marathon, and didnt understand..
6. First Kiss
7.They got lost
8. Racist Friend
9.Dr. Worm--
10.Actual Size --J.F. sings the end in a falsetto
11. "people vs. Apes"...as usual people win.
12. Famous Polka
13. Mammal --J.L.." welcome to detention with tmbg..".."stay after
tomorrow."
14. a special unreleased giant song..as they put it: "not on any record,
cd or tape anywhere.." called " going undercover for the man" ---> a song all about
working as federal agents in the guise of a rock band.. i believe.
15. She's an Angel (by special request)
16.S-E-X-X-Y J.L. "for the ladies" J.L. did some starnge keyboard
aolos in this version, reminescent of the x-files theme.
17.(after sound check... now with the whole Rythm Section) Shoe Horn...
with Dan Hickey on the electric Glockenspiel (always a crowd pleaser)
....J.L. (in reference to Dan's... adroit(hehe) GLockenspiel playing: )
"beaten but not defeated... he will meet any glockenspiel
anytime..anywhere!"
18 Spy --J.F. interjects his own impromptu lyrics the wiles of which
were comparablle to scratchin d.j.'s ... also with a wierd "wheee "
chorus... ... suddenly breaks into Dillans Mr Tambourine Man... J.L. directs
impromptu experimental end instrumentation.
19. Broom --J.F. administered the "broom" 's lyrics
20.I, Pallindrome, I
21 Why Does the Sun Shine
22. "Older" ..a show melody
23. The Guitar -- J.L. was heard to say into his mic/keyboard hook-up :
" This shit is on fire!"
24. No One Knows My Plan (conga line)
25. James K. Polk --J.F. " there's some controversy about using paper
confetti canons being against regulations, circulating.. but we're going
to do it anyway."
26 Istanbul
27(encore) Exquisite Dead Guy (w/ puppet heads)
28 Bird House
29 Dig my Grave -- J.L. "see YAWL later.."
END

p.s. additionally.. (although i forget during which song..most likely
spy) Flansburgh held out his red guitar for everyone in the front row to
play....in reference to the mad throng of hands that issued forth linnell
said: " i can tell you guys like us for our music.."